How to make a Jack-o'-Lantern

Today it was beyond necessary to go grocery shopping. During my grocery shopping I couldn’t help but notice all the lovely orange pumpkins on display everywhere I looked! Now this being my first real autumn it’s also my first real exposure to such tempting displays. Naturally I couldn’t resist! I would have to buy one and make my first jack-o’-lantern. I’d heard they were pretty tough to carve out so I thought I’d start small, and not be too ambitious. So I bought a little pumpkin that was destined to become my jack-o’-lantern.

After numerous referrals to youtube, I felt like I was ready to tackle my lantern. There are a lot of videos on youtube about carving out a pumpkin, some are great some leave much to be desired! Well if you are interested in making your own jack-o’-lantern (which is well worth it, because its enormous fun!) you’ll need a pumpkin, a knife, a bowl for seeds and newspaper to put the fibres and other such unwanted things.

1.       Start off by cutting the top of the pumpkin off. It’s important that you cut it at an angle so that when you put the lid back on it doesn’t fall into the pumpkin, so the top needs to be wider than the bottom.

2.       This is the fun part. You get to stick your hand into the guts of the pumpkin and yank them out! So much fun!! Separate the seeds from the fibres, keep the seeds for roasting and throw the fibres away (though if you’re anything like me, you might keep them and turn them into a soup later on).

3.       Smooth out the inside of the pumpkin with a spoon so it looks nice. This is actually easier than it sounds. The sides scrape away nicely (more soup fodder)

4.       Next best part, draw on the face! I used pencil, cos I’m not much of an artist and know I’ll have to change a few times.

5.       Once you’re happy with the face, time to carve it out. I only used straight lines, cos those are easier to carve and less likely to lead to a screw up. Push the pieces inside the pumpkin to remove them.

6.       Time for lighting!!!!! I, however, have to wait another 4 hours til its dark enough for me to light mine up. Oh waiting is the hardest part!!!

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Now for the intellectual stuff. Jack-o’-Lanterns are actually an Irish thing, coming from Samhein a festival celebrating the time when fairies and spirits are active. Originally they were carved out of turnips (not an easy feat I’m sure!). When Irish people arrived in America, they brought jack-o’-lanterns with them. In America, though, pumpkins were in better supply, and easier to carve so the lanterns were made from them instead. As Samhein is celebrated from the 31 October – 1 November it follows that they were adopted for Halloween.

Now go make your own Jack-o’-Lantern!!!